


Food Fair Fiasco

by vanilla107



Category: Fillmore!
Genre: Dynamic Duo, F/M, Fluff, anza is a sweetheart, feelings follow, fillmore and ingrid help push the relationship, mostly centered around tehama and anza working as a team, tehama is oblivious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21669301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanilla107/pseuds/vanilla107
Summary: When one of the food stalls at X Middle School's food fair gets sabotaged, it's up the safety patrol to find the culprit. Tehama struggles finding evidence for an on-going case and as time passes, the case grows cold.The investigation takes a turn for the worst when Fillmore and Ingrid get injured at the food fair and it's up to Anza and Tehama to find the perpetrator and save the food fair at X Middle School.But with limited evidence and dead ends, will the duo manage to solve the case?
Relationships: Cornelius Fillmore & Ingrid Third, Karen Tehama/Joseph Anza, Tehama/Anza
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Act One: Mac and Cheese Explosion

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with a Fillmore fanfiction! 
> 
> After my last one, I was asked if I could do a Tehama and Anza fic so I delivered! I was a little sad that they never really got a lot of screen time on the show so I do hope I did their characters justice. Please leave a comment or kudo if you enjoyed it!
> 
> Thank you for reading!  
> Stay healthy!  
> vanilla107

It was a Wednesday morning and Karen Tehama was not in a good mood.

“Tehama, please!” Danny O’Farrell begged and the Japanese American girl spun around and placed her hands on her hips.

“For the last time O’Farrell, _no!_ I'm busy and you need to catch up with all your work!” she argued.

“But I was sick with the flu since last week Friday!”

Tehama glared at him and pointed to his desk that was covered with files, “That is this morning’s work, doofus! Anza and I covered for you while you were sick and now you need to do your job!”

She stormed back to her seat and sighed before taking out a folder and leafing through it. O’Farrell grumbled back to his seat and groaned.

“Psst! Anza! Why is Tehama so moody today?” he whispered and Anza looked at him sympathetically.

“She’s been under pressure since Monday. Don’t take it personally, dude.”

“What? Why? Did I miss something?”

“There was a chili explosion at the school’s annual food fair on Monday. Ingrid and Fillmore were on the scene but there weren’t any leads; no fingerprints, no weapon, no nothing. The only clue found was a flyer with pancake prices. Tehama has tried everything for any clues but came out empty…the case has gone a little cold. Principal Folsom wants the perp caught and case closed ASAP, especially since the food fair runs for an entire week and all the proceeds go to upgrading the cafeteria. If another explosion goes off…who knows what might happen.”

“Wow…I…that really sucks,” O’Farrell murmured looking at the girl across the room.

“Yeah…she’s stressed so just ease off from her, okay?”

“Understood. Thanks Anza.”

\--

Lunch time came around and Tehama was no closer to finding any clues. She rested her head on her desk in frustration and Fillmore nudged Anza’s side as they walked past her desk for lunch, Ingrid joining them as she finished off the paper work from the day before.

Anza saw the small smile the two shared and he struggled to not tease them.

Ingrid and Fillmore had been dating for the last year and were still going strong. It was no surprise to him that the two had gotten together, especially with how well they worked as partners. He liked that they weren’t one of those annoying couples that excessively showed PDA (it was against the rules anyway but it didn’t stop some overly passionate students) but they rather showed their love for each other in small gestures, whether it was holding hands, eating lunch together or just giving each other little smiles or quick cheek kisses from time to time.

“Tehama still coming out cold?” the raven haired girl asked, sympathy in her voice and Anza nodded.

“Yeah…I’ve tried to get her to take breaks but she’s so stubborn. She won’t listen to me,” he sighed as they walked out the door.

The truth was, he had never seen his partner so distraught. She was one of the smarter people he knew next to Ingrid and never struggled finding clues in an investigation. Her passion was forensics and seeing her not be able to find anything made him frustrated for her. 

“Well, you know her better than anyone else as her partner. Maybe she just needs a distraction from her work to clear her head,” suggested Fillmore.

“I…” he murmured before his eyes widened. “Wait…I think I have a solution…late.”

He ran off without another word and the two safety patrol officers shrugged their shoulders, shared a smile before walking off hand-in-hand to the food festival.

\--

Anza walked into the patrol room, his gaze focused on Tehama, typing furiously away at her computer. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her, causing her to look up, surprised.

“I thought you went out for lunch-”

“-And I’m not going until you have had something to eat. You're coming with me to the food fair to get some lunch. You haven't been taking care of yourself since this case started Tehama!”

“Yes I am-”

She was cut off by a growl from her stomach and she winced.

“I had something to eat earlier I swear-”

“ _Karen_.”

She froze. He only ever called her by her first name when he was serious about something.

“Joseph, you don’t understand! I need to crack this! It’s been two days since the explosion and I need to find some sort of lead otherwise-”

Suddenly there was a low rumble and the two looked at each other.

“Was that..?”

“We need to go to the food fair. Now!” she yelled, before they ran out of the office.

\--

“Anza, Tehama, thank goodness you’re here!” exclaimed O’Ferrall in a panic when he saw them.

They slowed down and their jaws dropped open when they saw the chaos in front of them. More than half the hall was covered in macaroni and cheese, students covered in the goop and the sections were already being cornered off by other safety patrollers.

“O’Farrell…what in blazes happened here?!” Vallejo demanded as he walked into the hall, his eyes wide in shock as he surveyed the mess.

“I-I just got here! Aren't Fillmore and Ingrid supposed to be here too- Oh no…”

The Irish boy trailed off when he saw Ingrid and Fillmore being lead away on stretchers by the first aid team and Vallejo ran up to them.

“Hey! Hey! Fillmore? Ingrid? Can you hear me? What happened here!”

“I’m sorry Vallejo but these two…they suffered the worst of the explosion… a few bad burns, possibly concussions and bruises. The cheese was fresh and piping hot. They need medical attention immediately. They’ll need time to recuperate at home,” the first aider, Sarah Capaletti said sadly.

“But…but these two-! No one’s cracked cases as fast as them and with this investigation-”

“Vallejo, stay calm. Our two best patrollers are down and we need you to be calm,” Anza murmured, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder.

“I…you’re right. Sorry about that, guys,” he said apologetically and Sarah wheeled the injured patrollers away.

“It’s okay, the sooner we scout for clues, the sooner we can crack this. No dice,” nodded Tehama, her expression one of determination.

The bell rang for the next period and the hall cleared of the students who were curious and wanted to see the damage. The hall was quickly taped off with police tape and other safety patrollers helped students who got caught in the explosion to the nurses office. Tehama was about to investigate when Sarah waved her over.

“Hey Sarah, what’s up?”

“I was on the other side of the hall at the pancake stall when the explosion happened. I was first on the scene afterwards and saw that Fillmore was knocked out but Ingrid was still awake. She wanted to pass on a message before she lost consciousness. It was only one word but…it’s veg.”

“Veg? As in vegetable?”

“I don’t know but I assume it’s a clue. She and Fillmore were right at the mac and cheese stand when it exploded. They’ll most likely have concussions since they both knocked their heads pretty hard but it’s safe to say that they might be a little disorientated once they come to.”

Tehama nodded before going back to the crime scene and getting down to business. Anza was scraping cheese off the surfaces and examining them in the light, O’Farrell was taking photos of the crime scene and Vallejo was talking with Principal Folsom, who looked furious.

She sighed and walked over to a shivering girl and boy, both covered in mac and cheese and had blankets draped over them. It wasn't that she didn't like talking to people, she just preferred forensics, where the results didn't lie and evidence was concrete. People were difficult and trying to get them to recall traumatic events was a mission that Fillmore made easy. But since he was out of commission, she needed to step up. 

She took a seat opposite them and took out a notebook and pen.

_Be calm. Just channel your inner Fillmore._

“Karen Tehama, safety patrol. I believe that you two are the ones running the mac and cheese stand that exploded?” she asked politely, looking up at them.

“Yeah Officer. My name is Tinashe and this is my brother Percy. We saw the pots boiling unsteadily and we managed to get under our table before it exploded. We still got covered in mac and cheese though,” Tinashe said, wincing as she felt a glob of cheese in her afro.

“I know this question may be harsh but do you perhaps have any enemies? People that might want to hurt you?”

“No…no one that I can think of…” Percy said.

“Did anyone suspicious come up to you today before the explosion?”

“I don’t know…there were so many customers I couldn’t keep track. Our mac and cheese is really popular, Officer. It was bound to be a hit with the students,” Tinashe sighed.

“Popular huh? Why would you say that?” 

It felt like an empty question but she felt it could lead to why they had been sabotaged.

“Our mac and cheese has a special ingredient! We were bound to be the winning stall of the food fair.”

“Winning stall? What do you mean?”

“Whichever stall raises the most money for the cafeteria, get’s a brand new club room! Besides being great mac and cheese makers, Tinashe and I are part of the baking club! We need new ovens and this was the easiest way to getting it,” explained Percy.

“Hmmm, what do you know about the chili explosion on Monday? Do you know the stall holders?”

“Yeah! That’s our friends, Crystal Henderson and Hannah James. They make a mean chili!” grinned Tinashe.

“Are they also part of the baking club?”

“Yes, we decided as a club to split up into groups to cover more ground in the food fair so that there was a guaranteed win for the baking club. There’s roughly five other stalls that the baking club has around the festival.”

“Do either Crystal or Hannah have enemies?”

“Crystal’s ex-girlfriend was pretty upset about their break up but they’re on good terms now. Hannah…no. She just transferred from another school so she wouldn’t have any enemies.”

Tehama thought for a minute before nodding.

“Does the baking club have any enemies? Anyone who’d have a vendetta against the club in particular?”

Tinashe and Percy shared a look and Tehama raised an eyebrow.

“We…we might have some rivalry with the vegan club.”

“The vegan club?”

“Yeah…it’s been back and forth rivalry since the beginning of the year. It started off small and eventually went from spitballs in class to leaving moldy tomatoes in our lockers. We immediately complained about it and their club was suspended for a two months but they’ve been pretty civilized once they were allowed to operate again. We actually got along and even had a few meets where we backed vegan cupcakes. They were the only rivals we had and we sorted that out…so the baking club doesn’t really have any enemies but there were a few upset members from the vegan club when they were suspended. Maybe they decided to hold a grudge?” shrugged Percy.

“We’ll just have to see about that. Thank you for your time,” Tehama said as she walked over to Vallejo, who looked grim.

“Please tell me some good news because Folsom did not give me good news about what might happen to the safety patrol if we don’t crack this case,” he sighed and Tehama relayed the information to him, from Ingrid's last message to the rivalry between the two clubs.

“Interesting…I’ll look into the case of the vegan club and the baking club as well as the suspension of the vegan club from two months ago. Give us a better sense of direction. You talk to Anza and O’Farrell and get down to the bottom of this. I…I need some coffee,” Vallejo mumbled.

“We’re on it,” nodded Tehama but groaned internally as she turned to face the crime scene.

So far, they already had two explosions in three days, two of their best patrollers were injured and she still had no leads to Monday's explosion. 

It was going to be a long day.


	2. Act Two: Interrogation pains

Anza scrapped some more cheese into a bag as Tehama approached him.

“Tehama, Any clues?”

She filled him in on what she knew and he looked at her thoughtfully.

“The vegan club, huh? And Ingrid’s possible clue could possibly be linked to them since she said ‘veg’…but it isn’t enough for us to pin it on the vegan club.”

“Vallejo is checking the database now for the members of the club who lashed out when they were suspended. Hopefully there’ll be a break in the case then…and lead us to the person who set off the chili explosion too.”

“Speaking off chili…I got you this.”

Anza handed her a plastic container filled with rice and curry as well as a disposable knife and fork. She opened it and the scent made her mouth water.

“It’s from the Indian food stall. Their specialty was the curry and I hadn’t forgotten that you were hungry.”

“You…you didn’t need to do this...”

“Hey, I wasn’t joking when I said I was worried about you. Now eat up, get some food into your system and find this perp. I can’t have my partner fainting on the job,” he said with a small smile before leaving her to go back to Vallejo and showing him the cheese samples.

Tehama looked at him and then back to the curry before taking a seat. She smiled, her face feeling oddly warm as she took her first bite.

‘’Pretty nice to have a boyfriend so caring,” Sarah smiled and Tehama choked, her eyes watering, before turning to face the medic.

“We’re not together, Sarah,” she said, blowing her nose into a tissue and trying to not let the butterflies in her stomach get to her.

“Coulda fooled me. I see the way he looks at you. He cares about you way more than you think.”

Tehama thought back to how he had come back to the office just to get her to have lunch because she was so focused on cracking the case.

“…Maybe he does…” she whispered to herself as she tried to ignore her heartbeat in her ears and went back to eating her food.

\---

“Tehama, Anza! My office,” Vallejo said and the two patrollers walked in and he shut the door.

“I’ve managed to nail down three possible suspects all part of the vegan club who were angered that their club was suspended. Ashley Carmichael, Krissy Park, and the Vice President of the club itself, Henry Schooling. They all were pretty angry when Folsom suspended their club according to the official hearing.”

“Two people as well as the Vice President of the club…” Tehama noted and Vallejo sighed.

“I know. Which is why I already have them all here for questioning. Remember, these people wanted to cause harm to the baking club. Be careful.”

The two nodded and walked into the questioning room where an angry Korean girl sat.

“Hello. I’m Karen Tehama and this is my partner Joseph Anza. We’d like to ask you a few questions about the vegan club.”

“I’m Krissy. Can we please get this over with?” the girl replied with an eye roll.

Anza groaned inwardly and Tehama bit her lip.

_How the hell does Fillmore and Ingrid deal with people like this? They both thought._

“Krissy, we understand that you were pretty upset at the club being suspended a couple months ago. Why?”

“Why? Because the baking club should’ve been suspended not us! The baking club did as much damage to us than we did to them!”

“But according to statements, you guys started attacking for no reason with threats of sabotaging their bake sales for charity as well as leaving rotting tomatoes in their lockers.”

“There was a reason! Kayla insulted Ashley’s vegan brownies and she didn’t even try them!”

“Kayla who?” Anza asked.

“Kayla Linetti. She’s part of the baking club and an absolute terror!”

“Okay…but what about the rivalry? The vegan club got suspended and then once it was back on it was okay?”

“No…it wasn’t. Some people had left the vegan club to go to the baking club! Traitors!”

Tehama nodded and let Krissy leave.

Next was Ashley.

“Yeah, Kayla is the worst! So mean and hurtful! She didn’t even bother trying one before announcing at our open day that they taste like dirt! We lost so many valuable members that day!”

“Were you there when this happened?”

“No but a few of my friends from the club said that she did!”

“Can you give us their names please?”

She did and they let her go.

“How the hell did Ingrid and Fillmore do this? These people are insufferable!” Tehama groaned.

“Maybe it’s because they’re speaking from a place of anger. Maybe if we calmed them down…we could get more coherent answers…maybe we should change our strategy…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…so far we’ve found a lead to why the vegan club hated the baking club.”

“But that’s from months ago Anza. It’s all in the files already.”

“But we can revisit it. Remember that Krissy mentioned that some people left the vegan club completely and went to the baking club. Maybe someone wants revenge?”

“Okay, let’s ask our last suspect, the Vice President himself. Henry Schooling.”

Henry walked in and sat down, his face passive.

“Hello Karen and Joseph. I believe that you want to discuss the baking club.”

“Yes, we understand that you had a rivalry with them a couple months ago which resulted in your club being suspended.”

“That’s correct and we deserved it.”

The two patrollers looked at him in surprise.

“You…you _deserved_ it?” Tehama repeated, dumbfounded.

“Yes, even though I was angry initially, we did do a lot of terrible things to the baking club. Being vegan is supposed to be a lifestyle and we got so caught up in it that we targeted the baking club after Kayla Linetti insulted our brownies at open day. I was furious that we ended up getting the short end of the stick when we were suspended but the suspension helped clear my head. As Vice President of the vegan club, I need to uphold the values and make sure that the club is a safe space for everyone. I am aware that there are still members in the vegan club that are angry but we do have weekly meetings for their anger issues. They are intense people but… they are getting help,” he said softly.

“Okay...can you give us all the names of the people who left the vegan club who went to the baking club?”

He gave them a list of names and Henry was allowed to leave.

“There’s 10 people on here. This is going to take forever!” Tehama sighed.

“I know it looks overwhelming but we can do this we need to do this for Ingrid and Fillmore. We should also question ”

“Now let’s look at that list.” Anza said as he looked over the last ten names.

Jessie Harris

Carley Van Eden

Jarred Killigan

Amanda Kim

Carlos Mendoza

Crystal Henderson

Maria Lopez

Jackson Grootboom

Tinashe Ncube

Freddy Blake

“Hey, Crystal Henderson’s name is here. Her chili stall was sabotaged on Monday,” noticed Tehama and Anza nodded.

“And so is Tinashe’s name…I think we have a pattern.”

“We need to find out which of the baking club members have stalls at the food fair and fast. Their stall might be next.”

\--

“Sorry to get this to you so late but here are the stalls and the people running them,” apologized Justine McComerick, the baking club president.

“Thanks Justine, we’ll take it from here,” Anza said and skimmed over the page, “Tinashe and Percy weren’t kidding when they said that the baking club had many stalls. There’s at least ten and that’s a lot for one club. They must really want the new club room. Now let’s see the stalls that left the vegan club and went to the baking club… Tinashe and Percy were running the mac and cheese, Hannah and Crystal was running the chili stall, Jackson and Jessie running the pancake stall and Amanda Kim and Freddy Blake running the cake stall.”

“That’s quite a few stalls. We need safety patrols monitoring those stalls the afternoon. The fair was closed for the second break because of the mac and cheese explosion but it should be up and running after school. We should be there,” Tehama said and Anza nodded in agreement.

“Speaking of food...how was the curry?” Anza asked and Tehama felt her stomach flip.

“It was good. Thanks for buying me lunch even though I was stubborn. I'm sorry,” she admitted softly.

“So you owe me one?” Anza asked with a cheeky grin and Tehama rolled her eyes as the bell rang for the last period.

“Sure, how about at the food fair this afternoon. I know we’re patrolling but I can get you some food before we start?” she offered, seeing as it was only fair that he bought her lunch earlier today.

“It’s a date.”

Before Tehama could respond, her heart racing at his words, Vallejo called the two of them to his office to discuss their next move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the plot thickens! Thought I'd finally update this fic and give my characters some love! If you enjoyed reading this, then please leave a comment or a kudo!
> 
> Stay healthy!  
> love, vanilla107


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